Eight Years in Prison for Credit Card Fraud

LAS VEGAS (CN) – His role in a $50 million counterfeit credit card ring earned an Oakland, Calif., man 100 months in federal prison. Makyl Haggerty, 24, is the 25th person convicted of the 56 charged in four criminal indictments involving the criminal Carder.su ring, which also made counterfeit drivers licenses and ID cards, prosecutors said. Haggerty admitted in his plea agreement that he committed money laundering, drug trafficking and computer crimes since he joined Carder.su in December 2009, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement. He pleaded guilty in February to one count of participation in a racketeer-influenced and corrupt organization. Haggerty sold through the Web more than 1,000 counterfeit ID and credit cards to other Carder.su members, including counterfeit driver’s licenses for at least 15 states and British Columbia, prosecutors said. They described Carder.su as a criminal enterprise whose members trafficked in compromised credit card account data and counterfeit IDs. “We used the same mob-busting laws and investigative techniques we’ve used with other organized crime networks to dismantle the fraud ring,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney General Caldwell. “The new face of organized crime is largely cyber-based.” Prosecutors said Haggerty and others in the Carder.su ring stole people’s identities and used compromised credit card information to steal more than $50 million. They called such crimes “epidemic.” Haggerty also was ordered to pay $50.5 million in restitution.